At SFO - My China Airlines 747 standing ready for me to board. I met a friendly professor form Taipei who was in Las Vegas for a convention. We had an interesting conversation about both universities and computers. He also pointed me the right way to my plane from Taipei to Hanoi.
Taipei airport at 3 a.m. Very quiet and very clean. They even had machines that dispensed cold filtered water. The people of Taiwan think of everything.
Fr. Luis Calero, S.J., from Santa Clara University, making nice with the young lady as his Hanoi Hotel. Those anthropologists are real charmers.
My room during my first visit to Hanoi. It was small, on the fifth floor (walk up five flights and you have done your cardio for the day). I enjoyed the A/C, but the little ants made the place seem a bit small. And I really appreciated the mini-bar, which you can see on the table between the beds. The best part of the room was being able to go in the hallway outside the door and watch and listen to the rainstorms that hit the city while I was there.
My bathroom in Hanoi with the ubiquitous shower over the toilet. It was kind of awkward the first few times, but it's all about "accepting and adapting" as my friend put it. Of course, you always had a wet toilet seat, something that would have made mom very mad. Also notice the hot water heater over the toilet. Got to turn it on or it's icicles from the shower head. But I've got to say it was all very clean and neat. Not bad for $23.00 a day.
